A Word on When It is OK to Redeem 25K Miles for a Short Domestic Flight

Life takes little twists and turns, and sometimes opportunities present themselves. I haven’t been to North Carolina to look in on my mother since Christmas, and a lot of my family that I haven’t seen in a while just happen to be visiting NC this weekend. I didn’t expect good news when I priced flights, and I was right.

Sorry, but I won’t pay $626 dollars for a 1 hour flight from Atlanta to Raleigh even if I have the cash. All things being equal, I’d just drive. But things aren’t equal – we live in a very walkable neighborhood with easy access to restaurants and public transportation. As a result, we have remained a one car family for years. As MrsMJ is not accompanying me on this trip, and needs our car, driving is not an option. But what about the miles?

I’d rather not use miles for short haul domestic redemptions, but it is what it is. (At times like these, I wish AA flew nonstop from Atlanta to Raleigh….Avios anyone? 🙂 ) Frankly, with the only options being paying over $600, or missing a rare opportunity to visit with family, I think this is a pretty good spend of miles, especially SkyMiles. As I’ve said before, I don’t walk around with a calculator figuring out cpm values. If it feels right, I spend the miles, if not, I buy with money. In the end, I’m feeling pretty good about this redemption. What’s your breaking point for using miles vs. buying airfare?

Marshall Jackson is an aviation enthusiast and avid cruiser. After 10 years in the airline business, Marshall moved on to a new career that includes plenty of travel and plenty of cruises, and that’s just the way he likes it.

I’m an expert drinker and steak eater and almost expert cruiser. That’s about it. But….you raise a good point to explore in another blog post coming soon.

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4 years ago

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Tyler

Yea I agree with TopTraveler. I’d save the miles and rent a car. That way you also have a car while spending time with family, which I personally find to be nice to have the ability to go places. On the other hand, SkyMiles are become more and more worthless….

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4 years ago

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Jon

As someone who used to live in Raleigh for 15 years, and I get to Atlanta often, sometimes I (cringe) would look to Southwest with Delta had a temper tantrum with the fares. Not an option for ya? Even just this once?

Southwest is always an option for me. I actually don’t dislike Southwest. However, in this case they were pricing $40 more than Delta.

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4 years ago

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DaninSTL

So I’m assuming using Avios, the train or bus was not a good option for you. I agree any use that equals enough miles per dollar makes sense. I still feel bad about using 50k AA miles to fly in F from STL to MIA for a cruise a couple years ago.

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4 years ago

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TopTraveler

Why not rent a car for the weekend with unlimited miles and save the 25k SkyMiles?